Psychological characteristics of children with visual impairments: learning, memory and imagery

The performance of children (and sometimes
adults) with visual impairments (VI) on a range of tasks that
reflect learning, memory and mental imagery is considered in
this article. Sometimes the evidence suggests that there are
impairments in performance in comparison with typically developing
children with vision and sometimes some advantages
emerge. The author’s aim is to describe some of her own and others’
findings and explore what they tell us about the cognitive
characteristics of such children, so that progress with practical
interventions can be advanced through understanding. The article
starts by focusing on social-cognitive development and in
particular considers the potential benefits of language in that
development. This is followed by a review of some studies of
learning and memory performance which provide a coherent
picture of development without vision and finally ends with a
consideration of spatial mental imagery.